Every year the Jewish people spend one night discussing our famous departure from Egypt. We eat the same matzah, drink the same amount of wine, and read the same Haggadah. Yet, the Pesach Seder represents our religion’s most practiced custom. Perhaps the shared collective experience of yearning to break free from hardship explains this phenomenon.

Before the famous exodus no enslaved group had been able to escape Egypt. The long-standing Egyptian empire had a full-service army surrounding the country’s borders.  Rabbi Yitzchak Cohen once mentioned Egypt placed guard dogs around their borders to deter slaves from escaping. This empire laid out every obstacle to make escaping from Egypt impossible. Yet, Hashem sent Moshe to Egypt and turned everything around. Hashem brought down 10 miraculous plagues and allowed us to walk out of Egypt. And not only did we walk out, but Pharaoh begged us to leave. And not only did Pharoah beg us to go, but the Egyptians also gave us their clothing, gold, and silver.

In the Gemara our rabbi’s enacted a halacha to remember our famous departure from Egypt every day of our lives. Not just on Pesach, but every day. Perhaps this may have been enacted to help us remember God can improve our lives in the blink of an eye. Belief in the unlimited power of Hashem to upend our suffering represents a powerful line of support for anyone struggling in life.

Everyone struggles and faces moments of hopelessness. Some in our community have tried for years to get married and haven’t found their spouse, some have seen the best team of doctors and remain sick, some have tried for years to stop smoking and remain hooked. Eventually we run out of dating and treatment options and feel hopeless. Nowhere to turn for help. No logical source of assistance can be pondered.

Psychologists instruct hopeless individuals to schedule pleasurable and social activities to improve their mood. Psychiatrists recommend strugglers consume medication to lift their mood. But, when tragedy strikes our life, we need something more to grasp than medication and basketball. We need to believe the same way God swooped in and saved our people from an insurmountable circumstance. God can also save each one of us.

This week and beyond try to be optimistic about what lies ahead. In the words of a famous song from High School Musical, “there’s not a star in heaven that you can’t reach. No matter what the diagnosis or bank account reads, never give up hope. With God in our corner, I’m telling you there’s a chance.

© The Times of Israel (Blogs)